Post-election polling shows agreement on issues, expectation for politicians to negotiate with crossbench

Post-election polling of 2875 voters from across Australia showed the majority of Labor, Green and Independent voters prefer negotiations with cross bench MPs to form government rather than calling another election. 47.0% of all respondents support negotiations with independents and minor parties to form government while 46.3% said ‘call another election’.

--- Polling results in attachment below ---

“The poll also showed a resounding rejection the proposal to cut company tax rates for big business, while there was strong support for Gonski and Renewable energy across the political spectrum,” Executive Director of The Australia Institute, Ben Oquist said.

“Despite the strong pitch for majority government from the leaders of both the Coalition and Labor, a high number of people want negotiations to occur with the crossbench to form government.

“While Mr Shorten and Mr Turnbull might prefer majority government, the Australian public have elected their preferred parliamentarians. Given the makeup of the Parliament, stability requires cooler heads to prevail and negotiations remains the most likely outcome.

“The polling also revealed very low support for the Coalitions company tax cuts policy.”

The proposal to spend $48 Billion lowering the company tax rate took a battering both politically and economically during the election campaign. Only 23% of Australians support the passage of the tax cuts, which involve a $7.4 billion windfall for the big banks.

The survey also asked voters about their support for a 50% renewable energy target by 2030. 58% of respondents supported the proposal and just 24% were opposed.

“Throughout the election the strong support for renewables was widely apparent across diverse electorates. This poll demonstrates that whoever forms government they will be under pressure to invest more in renewable energy, not less.

“The poll also makes clear that the public is firmly behind the full Gonski education plan with 64% saying the Senate should vote to retain the Gonski spending commitment.

“This poll further demonstrates that, like the majority of economists, the public sees greater benefit from investing in services than corporate tax cuts,” Oquist said.

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The Australia Institute is the country’s most influential progressive think tank. We conduct research on a broad range of economic, social and environmental issues in order to inform public debate and bring greater accountability to the democratic process.